Rating: 
Summary: Robert De Niro is perfect and does emit emotion.
Review: YES! YES! YES! This is a film that must be seen. Definatley a man's film. It unusual to see a male actor be emotional in a film. Robert De Niro is perfect in this film and does emit emotion. You will feel what his character "Michael" is going through. The older I become (now the age of 39) I am having much more respect for the work Mr. Robert De Niro does. It has been almost 25 years since this film was released and in my opinion Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep are still the utmost high-quality actor and actress in the business. On December 18, 1978, "The Deer Hunter" will celebrate its 25th Anniversary. I wish there was a DVD version of this fine film available in Standard version.
Rating:
Summary: Rent It at least...buy it? its up to you
Review: Ok the main reason for writing this review is to clear up a major misconception of this movie. Everyone cuts on the whole Russian Roulette sequences as being unrealist, because I remember one reviewer asking the rhetorical question of "how many americans who went to vietnam were forced to play russian roulette?" In all reality it probably was very few if not none. These people are missing the point I think. If you rewatch the same sequences again you will notice the concentration on the number of bullets that are in the gun. In the first scene there happen to be 3 bullets in the final game, do you think that this was a mistake since all three of the guys were there being held captive? And in the single bullet games it was more symbolism of these men being that single bullet in the gun, and it was really just a matter of chance on if they would come out alive, dead, or forever changed. Also it was "russian roulette" what was the objective of the war? To keep the communists contained.
This is my take on it, the only part I didn't exactly enjoy was the first hour of the wedding scene, but it has been said that it is hard to see the pre-war and post-war differences between the friends without all of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: I was not too sure about this movie during the first hour. It was an hour of drunken rednecks. And the wedding reception, I thought would never end. But once they went to was it was pretty good. I was impressed at how well it was made for a '70s movie. Then came the end and I have to say that the end of this movie was very disappointing. The movie was also really long for no reason. 3 hours was a little overkill, they could of taken time off of the reception. That would of brought it down about 45 minutes.
Rating: 
Summary: Great flick.
Review: I would rank "The Deer Hunter" alongside "Full Metal Jacket" as the best war movie that isn't just a war movie. "The Deer Hunter" is about Vietnam, but it goes far beyond that war to explore the interplay of three archetypes of the human condition. There are very few actual combat scenes in the movie, which helps keep the viewer focused on the characters rather than the dynamics of any particular battle.
Also worthy of note are the film's hunting scenes. The film is called "The Deer Hunter," after all, and a great deal of effort went into these scenes, both the pre-war and post-war hunts. Watch the astonishing beauty of the pre-war hunt. DeNiro's character strides up a rocky crag, rifle in hand, and follows through on his "one shot" motto. Nick lingers behind, content to simply take in the beauty. For those of us who hunt, it pretty much captures the ideal kill. More significantly, it stands in contrast to the post-war hunting trip, where everything falls apart.
Rating:
Summary: A must see....changed my view of war at an early age
Review: I first saw this brilliant film when I was 11 I think. At the time I was into war films, gung-ho heroes and when the good guy is like John Wayne (not to put him down at all, but I am refering to larger than life characters) and pro war films. This was my first experience at an anti-war film and not about squads of men battleing it out but a small group of friends from a small town who are as important to the story as the 3 men who go to Vietnam especially Meryl Streep's character Linda. From the beginning besides the bonding of the men, you can see the inner bond of Linda & Michael (Robert De Niro) despite the fact that Linda is Nick's (Christopher Walken) girlfiend and is asked at Stevens (John Savage) wedding if she would marry him when he comes back from Vietnam, she says yes. Symbolisim, even if small details like the spilling of wine on Steve's brides gown when it was said bad luck can happen if even a drop is spilled goes un-noticed are more shown later with him losing both his legs and the use of his left arm from an accident falling off the helicopter. The carrying of pictures of Linda overseas of both Nick and Mike. The choice of Michael to not kill the deer after returning from his tour of duty (he is the strongest willed character in the film who becomes tamed/troubled from his experiences & the view of guns/hunting). The innocence lost of a man who loves the beauty of the wilderness and freedom becomes addicted to playing Russian roulette, Nick and his tragic ending (being promised by Mike to never leave him there in Vietnam early on). The joining of Michael and Linda later on. The shell shock each of these characters feel is deep and rarely do I cry while watching a film but this one never fails to draw tears upon each viewing. I'm in my mid 30's now and it's still that powerful to me. Everything about this film is pure excellence in its portrayal of what this war did to people, it's scars and the attempt to heal at the ending. The repeating guitar song throughout the film enhances the great filming, scenery & feeling of this tale.Like other films and novels of such thought & emotion provoking make this fit in the category of college and even high school asignments in my opinion. While other films with anti-war statements are also important such as Apocalypse Now (I also saw this film when it opened in the theaters and the psychological terror of war), Catch-22 (irony of war), Platoon (innocense lost), Cross of Iron (irony of war, power and a brilliant view of the "enemies" point of view), Stalingrad (excellent view of the "other side"), All's Quiet on the Western Front, the Deer Hunter is in a leage of it's own as is Coming Home (I'll never forget the ending) not much combat is shown but the point is clear.
Rating:
Summary: short and sweet review
Review: let me just put it like this...this movie was absolutley excellent! it is not for the type that just likes to watch a movie for an hour or 2, so if u decide to watch it, be prepared for a long movie that is so interesting. what the movie is pretty much about is 3 friends from a small town that want to go to the vietnam war and know pretty much nothing about the political part of it. Once they get there, their lives change drasticly and the ending is a tear jerker (for me anyway). i totaly recomend this movie!
Rating:
Summary: A good film about America and friends
Review: From the parts of the movie I have seen in different entertainment stories, I thought the movie was primarily a film about the war in Vietnam. It does cover the war, but it covers the effects of the war on people and communities; very little of the film takes place in Vietnam. The bulk of the movie takes place in Pennsylvania where we see the friends going through bonding and anticipation as they prepare to leave for the war. After the war, we see how they bring parts of the war back with them and how some can't leave it behind. Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro give great performances. The change in Walken's character is very noticeable and well portrayed by him. The change in DeNiro's character is much subtler. I would highly recommend seeing this film.
Rating:
Summary: Long, involved, difficult, great.
Review: The movie is all those things above, my review won't be. This movie is often shocking,often provocative, and by all means epic. It's the kind of movie you have to see at least once, just so you can understand it's function in movie history. Newer movies have referenced the hell out The Deer Hunter, but you won't know how much till you see it. It's probably a more useful Vietnam War movie than Apocalypse Now! on the home side of things as we get to know the characters before the war and then see how the experience affects them. It's really a must see movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie not a good transfer to DVD
Review: I was very dissapointed in the quality of the picture on this DVD. For being one of the best movies ever and a BEST PICTURE winner I was expecting a good picture quality on the DVD. The quality transfer stinks on this one. Doesn't look much better than VHS in my opinion. I hope they re-release it with a high deffinition transfer and this movie is in dire need for RESTORATION to transfer to DVD.If your a DVD collector and are hoping for a better picture, don't ecpect much better than the VHS version. The ONLY good thing about the DVD version is it's in letterbox and it's a shame it wasn't transfered in anamorphic widescreen atleast.
Rating: 
Summary: The poor poor Americans.
Review: 'The Deer Hunter' has some positive sides to it, like showing how everyday, normal lives can be changed forever by the horrors of war. But the film tries to tell us this with the wrong war and with the wrong side of the story. Yes, 57,000 American soldiers died, but over a million Vietnamese people were killed in the war. I guess those Vietnamese are not people, only us Americans are. At least that's what the film tries to show.
The main character, played by De Niro, is almost an angel. The same can be said for his buddies. The Vietnamese, on the other hand, are money-grubbing, mean-spritied devils. The films also seems to ignore history. Seems like no one in America is protesting against the war. And I also don't remember hearing anything about the Vietnamese forcing American soldiers to play Russian Roulette.
|
